Word.ws English Dictionary

knocks into a cocked hat

knocks into a cocked hat is the third-person singular simple present indicative of knock into a cocked hat.

Meaning of knock into a cocked hat

Verb

knock into a cocked hat (third-person singular simple present knocks into a cocked hat, present participle knocking into a cocked hat, simple past and past participle knocked into a cocked hat)

  1. (colloquial, dated, transitive) To beat up or seriously injure (a person); to badly damage (a thing).
    • Tho' I'll tell ye what, stranger, I'm none your mealy mouthed fellows, and I'm little jubus [dubious] that you're one of them there [John Quincy] Adams men. And I've just seen the time that I'd knock sich a fellow into a cocked hat as quick as name it. But [Andrew] Jackson is safe enough and he's...1830 November 13, “A rencounter. From the Connersville, Ind. Political Clarion.”, in Frederick-Town Herald, volume XXIX, number 27, Fredericktown, Md.: […] William Ogden Niles, →OCLC, page 4, column 3
  2. (UK, colloquial, figuratively, transitive) To completely demolish, nullify, overthrow, or otherwise defeat (a person; an argument, idea, or proposition; or a thing).
    • All the original ideas we had were knocked into a cocked hat by the latest survey.

Questions about knocks into a cocked hat

What is knocks into a cocked hat the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Knocks into a cocked hat is the third-person singular simple present indicative of knock into a cocked hat.

Words near knocks into a cocked hat in the dictionary

  1. knocks down a peg
  2. knocks down to size
  3. knocks for a loop
  4. knocks in
  5. knocks into
  6. knocks into a cocked hat
  7. knocks into shape
  8. knocks it off
  9. knocks it out of the ballpark
  10. knocks it out of the park
  11. knocks off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knocks into a cocked hat (page history and authors); knock into a cocked hat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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